You should soothe babies who wake at night – it speeds sleep training

Don’t let a baby ‘cry it out’

Chris Pecoraro/Getty

By Yvaine Ye

When an ear-piercing cry shatters a peaceful night, go ahead and pick the baby up. Comforting an infant under three-months of age can help reduce their tendency to wake up at night as they grow older. Beyond the three-month mark, though, parents’ interventions may have little impact on a baby’s sleeping habits.

It takes time for babies to learn to sleep through the night. To better understand parents’ role in the process, Sabrina Voltaire at Pennsylvania State University in University Park, and her colleagues, followed …

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